How Gerwig And Baumbach Depict Adulthood In ‘Frances Ha’ (2012)

As life’s current carries us out of our childhood, we find ourselves in an ocean of choices. Often the only foresight we have to prepare for these choices is a single question: “what do you want to do when you grow up?”

While a complex question to answer, we are led to believe that answering it means we have “figured out” life. The linear path we develop to prepare for our journey to what we want to do, and intrinsically who we want to become, oftentimes does not account for the inevitability of change.

Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s first brainchild, Frances Ha (2012), foretells the dangers of fighting against life’s current and teaches us, while it is impractical to predict who we will become, it is essential to discover who we are.

Frances Halladay In Frances Ha (2012)

Frances, the titular character played by co-writer, Greta Gerwig, begins Frances Ha as the “poster-child for an adrift millennial.” (( Galo, Sarah. “’Frances Ha’ Review: Noah Baumbach Movie Explores Female Friendship, 20-Something Woes.” Mic.com, 2013. Accessed 24 Feb. 2023. )) The financially irresponsible aspiring dancer, suffering from codependency withdrawal and an identity crisis, struggles to find her footing in the adult world.

When life as she knows it shifts and changes around her, she finds herself taking missteps forward and two steps back. If you are feeling lost along life’s path — pushed and pulled by the wild rapids of change — Frances Ha will reveal the light at the end of the tunnel, the forgivable missteps often made in the dark, and the undeniable truth about that complex question: that there is no fixed answer.

Finding Your Rhythm In The Dance Of Life In Frances Ha (2012)

During the first fifteen minutes of Frances Ha, Frances seems as though she has her life figured out: a supportive and understanding home life with her roommate and best friend, Sophie (Mickey Sumner), and a flexible job at allows her to practice and teach dance. It is not until these pillars of her life begin to crumble that we begin to see how out of step she is with the world around her.

Greta Gerwig effortlessly portrays this syncopated state Frances finds herself, in through her offbeat movements and unfiltered comments. (( Sharkey, Betsy. “Greta Gerwig’s Real Hometown, Real Parents Part Of ‘Frances Ha’s’ Charm.” Latimes.com, 2013. Accessed 24 Feb. 2023. ))

The way she barrels through conversations — saying too much when she should listen and saying nothing when she should be communicating — perpetuates a limited understanding of her impact on the world around her. Frances stumbles from one unstable living situation to the next, each one bringing to light all the ways she feels unprepared for the adult world.

Rather than building a new road map for success, she takes several steps back desperately trying to grasp onto her old sense of security. As stubborn and optimistic as Greta Gerwig presents her character, her actions reveal an underlining fear. Whether she fears failure, as opposed to change, is never made clear. Regardless, this fear is preventing her growth and, within that growth, self-discovery.

Defining A Sense Of Self

Gerwig and Baumbach depict Frances’s friendship with her former roommate Sophie as a love story, reminiscent of “the one that got away.”

When Sophie leaves to take the next step in her adult life, Frances loses a part of herself — her identity. Although their relationship is not sexual, the first five minutes of Frances Ha demonstrate how intimate they are. They spend every waking, and the occasional sleeping, moment together, only to part for their jobs or boyfriends.

In doing so, Gerwig and Baumbach portray “female friendship as a meaningful form of intimacy, capable of being as important as romance.” (( Pappis, Konstantinos. “Conversations with Frances Ha: The Intersection Between Sally Rooney’s Millennial Fiction and Greta Gerwig’s Mumblecore Classic.” Ourculturemag, 2019. Accessed on 24 Feb. 2023. )) Frances even describes their relationship as “a lesbian couple who doesn’t have sex anymore,” maintaining that their relationship exists beyond sexual gratification and relies purely on support and understanding.

Defining A Sense Of Self Within Friendship

When the friends part ways, it becomes heartbreakingly obvious how reliant Frances is on their relationship. Perhaps stemming from nostalgic college days and effortless understanding, Frances relies heavily on Sophie for a sense of belonging. Fittingly, the root cause of codependent relationships derives from “a poor concept of self and poor boundaries,” according to licensed professional counselor Dr. Mayfield. (( Gould, Wendy. “What is Codependency?” Verywellmind.com, 2022. Accessed 5 March 2023. ))

This lack of a sense of self leads Frances to project herself through her friend, describing her and Sophie as “the same person but with different hair.” In reality, Sophie is instigating change to achieve her dream of moving up in the world, while Frances can’t let go of the past. For this reason, when Frances sees Sophie seemingly entering the adult world effortlessly, she finally becomes aware of her detachment from that world.

Determining A Sense Of Self Within A Codependent Relationship In Frances Ha (2012)

The inevitable consequences of their codependent relationship become apparent when she interacts with new people. After her unreliable job falls through for the winter, she relies on her casual friend, Rachel (Grace Gummer), who reluctantly offers her a place to stay. Their interactions become strained and uncomfortable when Frances tries to reenact her intimate and aberrant relationship with Sophie. In an awkward and comedic scene, Frances tries to “play fight” with Rachel — like she used to do with Sophie — pushing her away literally and figuratively.

With tensions high, Frances attends a dinner party with Rachel and her family. Baumbach and Gerwig compose the scene so that it pivots between the pleasant chatter of small talk and Frances vocalizing her unorganized thoughts, often interrupting the flow of conversation and generating confusion. The discomfort Frances feels is evident when she keeps apologizing and diminishing herself. Baumbach explains that the purpose of this scene was to emulate that feeling of entering the adult world and not knowing how to speak the language,

“that feeling that we all have at some point of ‘I’m old enough to be at this party and sitting with these people but I don’t feel like a grown-up, the way I see these people as grown-ups.’”

(( Beames, Robert. “Interview: Noah Baumbach – France Ha,” whatculture.com, 2013. Accessed 5 March 2023. ))

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The scene emulates Frances’ detachment from reality and her desire to connect.

Having found herself in a highly vulnerable and insecure state, for what seems like the first time, Frances digs deep within herself to find something meaningful to say. She uses this moment to explain what she truly wants in life: to belong — even if it’s only in a small invisible dimension between her and another person. Frances finally speaks from her heart, specifically about wanting to make a genuine connection while simultaneously being oblivious to the connection made with her heartfelt comment. Although she sidesteps an opportunity, she does take a step in the right direction.

Defining Your Life Goals And Growth

Frances knows what she wants now, but, like in all aspects of her life, she doesn’t know how to achieve it. She ties herself down to these identities in which she projects herself: Sophie’s best friend, a dancer, “not a real person.”

All of which act as excuses for her to avoid growth. The human identity is far more complex and abstract than who you love or what you do. It wasn’t until these identities began to fall away and become out of reach that she was forced to get to know herself.

Taking Control Of Your Life In Frances Ha (2012)

Imagining your dream job is one thing, but achieving it is an entirely different experience, wrought with obstacles and decisions — none of which you can predict. While many decided early on what they want to become, a key aspect of entering adulthood is determining what needs to be done in order to accomplish that goal. Frances says she wants to be a dancer but continues to do the bare minimum to achieve that dream. Before she can move forward with her life, she will need to start making practical decisions.

“In some ways, Frances Ha is about the romance of practical decisions,” Baumbach explains, “everybody has to make practical decisions in their lives — no one has things handed to them.” (( Beames, Robert. “Interview: Noah Baumbach – France Ha,” whatculture.com, 2013. Accessed 5 March 2023. ))

In keeping the reality of adulthood at a distance, Frances continues to value spontaneity and “living in the moment” over practical decisions. We watch as she makes several impractical and impulsive decisions, many of which have little to no consequences besides rendering her life even harder. However, two consequential decisions impact her life, and, true to character, these avoidant choices steer her away from her path.

The first occurs after the awkward dinner party — where she also discovers Sophie is moving to Japan with her boyfriend Patch (Patrick Heusinger) — when she decides to take an impromptu two-day trip to Paris in hopes of seeing some old friends. Rather than confront Sophie and work on mending their relationship, she avoids responsibilities and escapes.

Heading Into The Tunnel Of Change

Not only does she miss out on an opportunity to connect and communicate with her best friend, but ironically she misses out on seeing her friends in Paris, too. She had failed to see what a big and expensive decision traveling to Europe was. Baumbach and Gerwig play with the irony of the situation, stating, “in another movie, this would be the transformative trip for her character.” (( Beames, Robert. “Interview: Noah Baumbach – Frances Ha,” whatculture.com, 2013. Accessed 5 March 2023. )) However, in Frances Ha, the trip emphasizes the superficial quality of what Frances does, with a lack of critical thinking.

Reeling from her misadventure, in an ever lower emotional state than when she had left, Frances is told there is no longer a place for her at the dance company as a dancer. This disillusionment is far too much for her fragile emotional state to handle. Her entire identity has been erased. However, all is not lost.

Thrashing against the wild rapids of change, Frances is offered a lifesaver: a job as a receptionist at the company, where she can use the studios to practice choreography. Not only does Frances reject the offer with disgust, but she also insults her former boss by blatantly lying about having another dancing opportunity. Her reaction is highly emotional and a coping mechanism to regain control. By choosing “all or nothing,” she is left with nothing.

Frances’ Tunnel Vision View Of Life

These are the consequences of the tunnel vision view of life. As children, during such a developmental phase, we often set a course for our future, perhaps as a coping mechanism. With the long stretch of road ahead and the fear of the unknown, we attach ourselves to the lifeboat of a specific identity. This identity will help us determine how and why we make certain decisions.

But when the storms of change come and shatter our lifeboats, we feel we are drowning in the unknown as failed adults. However, this is not the end of the journey, nor the only storm to weather. We see through Frances’ mistakes that the only identity we can truly count on for support and safety is who we are now and the skills we’ve gathered. Often, this sense of self does not reveal itself until everything else we hide behind crumbles. Then, when the storm clouds part, we find the steps that lead out of the depths.

Homeless, jobless, and directionless, Frances runs back to the safety of the past. Taking a job as a waitress and Resident Assistant (RA) at her old alma mater, Frances sinks into the reality she has created for herself. Forced to face the facts, she begins to accept that she cannot go back to the way things were because they don’t exist for her anymore.

She cannot return to her undergraduate years in college; she cannot return to living with Sophie; and she is not any closer to becoming a dancer. Something has to change, this time, by her own hand.

“Everything that [Frances] has at the end was actually available to her before, she just wan’t able to accept any of it. She had access to this more grown up version of her relationship with Sophie, she had the ability to make her own work, she had the ability to take the office job, she had all these things in her power, she just didn’t know how to do it.”

Greta Gerwig(( VICE. “Sarah Polley and Greta Gerwig on ‘Frances Ha’ – Conversations Inside the Criterion Collection,” YouTube.com, 2014. Accessed 24 Feb. 2023. ))

At the end of Frances Ha, we see Frances happily embrace these changes and new opportunities and, as a result, grow into the person she was all along.

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There is a short scene that embodies Frances’ growth perfectly. While walking through her new apartment, she stops in a door frame and tries to lift her arms, only to meet resistance; it is only when she steps forward that can she fully extend her arms. Having taken control of her life and tried a new path — initially less exciting — she has allowed herself space to grow, emphasizing that challenging yourself to do things you thought you would never do can lead you exactly where you want to be.

Frances Ha (2012): Dancing To The Beat Of Your Own Drum…

Life has a funny way of steering us in the right direction. While we may not see the value in some opportunities, the lack of a better option can lead us back to these opportunities. In Frances’ case, it isn’t until she has no other options that those opportunities begin to look more appealing.

She comes to find that a receptionist job is better than no job at all and that choreographing doesn’t mean she’s not a dancer. In spending so much time focusing on reaching a single goal, she was missing out on the adventure of discovering the beauty in life and all she had to offer the world. By becoming instep with yourself, you begin to find your place in the world around you.

Such is life, Frances’ journey to self-discovery and growth does not end when Frances Ha ends. However, we see a transformation of her character and an acceptance of her individuality. Just as in the dance she choreographs, she finally sees the beauty and unique fluidity of making mistakes and trying again. Frances Ha shows us there’s no way to know all the answers and that life will lead us to the questions we should be asking ourselves.